ProTeam Lotto Soudal animates stage two Tour de la Provence

Filippo Conca in his first breakaway as a pro.

Race 12 February 2021

Lotto Soudal showed offensive racing in stage two of the Tour de la Provence. Soon after the start in Cassis, an early breakaway formed, which included Lotto Soudal’s neo-pro Filippo Conca. The young Italian clearly felt good as he attacked and left his breakaway companions behind at 40 kilometres from the line. Conca put in a solid solo effort, but was eventually caught by a chasing peloton at fifteen kilometres from the line.

“I noticed that the peloton was already quite close with 40 kilometres of racing still to go, so I decided to attack and go full gas”, said Filippo Conca. “From that moment on, I went all out, but unfortunately I got caught at 15 kilometres from the finish. Winning the stage actually never crossed my mind as the gap wasn’t big enough and the peloton was already quite close.”

Not long after Conca was caught, another Lotto Soudal youngster Florian Vermeersch put in an attack. He was joined by the American Jorgenson, but the duo wasn’t able to escape a bunch sprint.

Florian Vermeersch: “Of course, we first protected the breakaway of Filippo Conca, but at the summit of the final climb, he got caught. Shortly after the descent, I spotted an opportunity to attack. I made it to the bottom of the uphill finish, but the furious pace in the peloton made it impossible to stay ahead.”

At one and a half kilometres from the finish, Philippe Gilbert was well-positioned but had to swerve around a crash.

Philippe Gilbert: “I was in a nice position during the final kilometres, but unfortunately I had to use the sidewalk to swerve around the crash of Alaphilippe. That way, I lost a lot of speed and that was it for me. I am really disappointed as today’s finish really suited me and the legs felt good.”

Another young Italian, Stefano Oldani, managed to sprint to 8^th place in the end. His compatriot Ballerini took a second consecutive stage win at the Tour de la Provence. Tim Wellens didn't have a great day, "Bad legs today", explained the Lotto Soudal rider.

“My intention was to launch Philippe Gilbert for the sprint but due to the crash of Alaphilippe, we had to change plans. Eventually, I managed to take 8^th place”, said Stefano Oldani.